Oliver Bonk

During the 2022–23 season, in his first full season with the London Knights, Bonk recorded ten goals and 30 assists in 67 games. He ranked second among rookie defencemen in the OHL with 40 points, and ranked first with 17 power-play points and four short-handed points.^[1][2] Bonk was named to the league's Second All-Rookie Team.^[3]

Following the conclusion of the season, Bonk was drafted 22nd overall by the Philadelphia Flyers. Bonk was one of two of Philadelphia's first-round selections, the other being Matvei Michkov. The Flyers had acquired the 22nd pick from the Columbus Blue Jackets via trade, who in turn had acquired the pick from the Los Angeles Kings at the 2022–23 trade deadline.^[2]

Bonk missed several weeks of the 2023–24 season while participating in the 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships with the Canadian junior team.^[4] After a lengthy goalscoring drought that had begun in the final months of the 2022–23 season, coach Dale Hunter shifted Bonk's power play position, resulting in a significant increase in goalscoring for the remainder of the season.^[5] He finished the regular season with 24 goals and 43 assists in 60 games, and was named to the OHL First All-Star Team.^[6][7] The Knights received the Hamilton Spectator Trophy as the top team in the regular season,^[8] and in the playoffs reached the OHL Finals for the second consecutive season, where they defeated the Oshawa Generals to hoist the J. Ross Robertson Cup.^[9] Bonk had 7 goals and 9 assists in the championship run,^[6] and was cited as a key part of the "core" of the team.^[9]

Bonk made his debut with the Canadian national junior team at the 2024 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships. With the quarter-final game against the Czech Republic tied eleven seconds from going to overtime, a puck redirected into the Canadian net off Bonk's stick, and as a result Team Canada was eliminated. He remarked that it was a "bad bounce," and vowed to use the overall experience as motivation, saying "we're not going to mope about it and feel bad about ourselves. It was a world-class atmosphere."^[4]

Bonk is the son of Czech former player Radek Bonk.^[10] Oliver was born in Ottawa, Ontario while Radek was playing for the Ottawa Senators.^[2]

• Biographical information and career statistics from NHL.com, or Eliteprospects.com, or The Internet Hockey Database